Trump Says Iran War Terminated, As War Powers Deadline Arrives
Washington: US President Donald Trump declared that the ceasefire “ended” hostilities against Iran, as he sought to back up his claim that he did not need permission from lawmakers to resume the conflict.
Trump said in a letter to congressional leaders on Friday, the deadline to come to Congress about the war, that there has been no conflict with Iran since the ceasefire. “The conflicts that started on February 28, 2026 are now over,” he said.
Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a U.S. president can only conduct military action for 60 days before terminating it, requesting authorization from Congress, or requesting a 30-day extension when withdrawing forces due to “unavoidable military necessity relating to the security of the Armed Forces of the United States.”
On Friday, Iranian state news agency IRNA said Tehran had sent its latest offer for talks with the United States to Pakistani mediators. Trump quickly denied this.
The president formally notified Congress of the conflict 48 hours after the first airstrikes two months ago, starting a 60-day period that ends May 1.
As the date approached, congressional aides and analysts said they expected the Republican president to miss the deadline. A senior Trump administration official said Thursday that the administration’s view is that the war powers act deadline does not apply.
Trump said he found the war powers law unconstitutional. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have argued that the measure violates the Constitution because it limits the president’s powers as commander in chief. Legal experts say the issue has not been decided by the courts.
“We had a ceasefire, so this will buy you additional time,” Trump said before leaving Washington for Florida.
NO EXIT: DEMOCRATIC SENATOR
Congressional Democrats, who have repeatedly tried to pass war powers legislation that would force Trump to end the war or come to Congress for authorization, rejected that characterization, saying there was nothing in the 1973 law authorizing a ceasefire.
They also said the continued deployment of US ships blocking Iran’s oil exports was evidence of ongoing hostilities, not a ceasefire.
“After sixty days of conflict, President Trump still has no strategy or way out for this poorly planned war,” New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that called the deadline for Trump to act “a clear legal threshold.” he said.
Trump acknowledged in his letter to Congress that the conflict may not be resolved. He said Iran still poses a “significant” threat to the United States and its armed forces.
PARTY LOYALTY AS ELECTIONS APPROACH
Trump’s fellow Republicans, who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives and have rarely broken with Trump, have voted almost unanimously to block any resolution to end the conflict.
The Iran war has killed thousands, caused billions of dollars in damage, and shaken world markets, disrupting energy shipments and causing a wide range of consumer prices to rise.
Polls show the war is unpopular among Americans, six months before the November election that will determine who controls Congress next year.
The U.S. Constitution says only Congress, not the president, can declare war, but this restriction does not apply to short-term operations or to counter an immediate threat.
On Thursday, Trump received a briefing on plans for new military strikes that would force Iran to negotiate an end to the conflict.
If the fighting continues, Trump could tell lawmakers he’s starting a new 60-day clock. Since Congress passed war powers legislation in response to the Vietnam War, presidents of both parties have done so repeatedly while conducting intermittent hostilities.
This conflict, which was not welcomed by Americans, was not allowed by Congress.
